A report by Canadian tech watchdog Citizen Lab says Stelios Kouloglou, a Greek journalist-turned politician who served on the European Parliament’s PEGA committee investigating illegal phone hacking, was targeted with Israeli-made Pegasus spyware. Citizen Lab’s forensic analysis found Kouloglou’s phone was hacked at least three times between October 2022 and March 2023 using Pegasus, a tool distributed by the Israeli company NSO Group. The reports say Kouloglou was on the PEGA committee at the time, which was set up in 2022 to examine abusive surveillance practices across the EU, focusing largely on Pegasus and similar spyware. The committee’s work included findings that governments across the bloc likely used spyware in some form, whether legitimate or illegitimate. Kouloglou is quoted as saying he was surprised that a PEGA member was spied on using Pegasus. NSO did not respond to requests for comment. The reporting also notes that NSO has faced major allegations and restrictions, including being blacklisted by the United States in 2021 and facing legal action involving Meta/WhatsApp over unlawful hacking.
EU spyware watchdog lawmaker Stelios Kouloglou reportedly hacked with Pegasus
A report by Canadian tech watchdog Citizen Lab says Stelios Kouloglou, a Greek journalist-turned politician who served on the European Parliament’s PEGA committee investigating illegal phone hacking,...
- Citizen Lab says Stelios Kouloglou’s phone was hacked at least three times from October 2022 to March 2023.
- The alleged hacking used Pegasus spyware distributed by NSO Group, according to Citizen Lab.
- Kouloglou served on the European Parliament’s PEGA committee, which investigates illegal or abusive phone hacking in the EU.
- The reports describe the PEGA committee as focusing largely on Pegasus and similar tools during its investigation.
- NSO did not provide comment in response to requests.
Pressure is mounting on the European Commission to act on spyware, after forensic evidence showed one of the EU’s own spyware investigators was hacked with Pegasus. Civil society groups issued a joint statement demanding the abuse be met with accountability, “not impunity”. Citizen Lab confirmed last week that Stelios Kouloglou, a Greek former MEP, was infected in October […] This story continues at The Next Web
1 month agoA new report from the Citizen Lab has revealed that former Member of the European Parliament Stelios Kouloglou had his mobile device repeatedly hacked with the notorious Pegasus spyware while serving on a committee that was tasked with investigating the abuse of such commercial surveillance tools in the bloc. "Through forensic analysis of his device, we found that the attackers could have had
1 month agoStelios Kouloglou spent two years on the European Parliament committee set up to investigate governments spying on their own citizens with commercial hacking tools. According to a report published Friday by Citizen Lab, the University of Toronto research group, his own phone was hacked with Pegasus spyware while that inquiry was under way. Kouloglou, a […] This story continues at The Next Web
1 month agoGreek former parliamentarian Stelios Kouloglou targeted with Pegasus software, Citizen Lab analysis finds.
1 month agoBy Raphael SatterJuly 3 (Reuters) - A former member of the European Parliament who served on a committee investigating abusive surveillance was himself hacked using an Israeli-made spy tool, a Canadian tech watchdog group said on Friday.Citizen Lab said in a report that the phone of Stelios Kouloglou, a Greek television journalist-turned-lawmaker, was hacked at least three times between October 2022 and March 2023 using Pegasus spyware, a tool distributed by the Israeli company NSO Group.
1 month agoReport: EU lawmaker who probed surveillance was hacked by Israeli spyware A former member of the European Parliament who served on a committee investigating abusive surveillance was himself hacked using an Israeli-made spy tool, a Canadian tech watchdog group said on Friday. Citizen Lab said in a report that the phone of Stelios Kouloglou, a Greek television journalist-turned-lawmaker, was hacked at least three times between October 2022 and March 2023 using Pegasus spyware, a tool distributed by the Israeli company NSO Group. At the time of the targeting, Kouloglou was serving on the European Parliament's PEGA Committee, which was set up in 2022 to examine the use of illegal phone hacking across the European Union. The committee focused mainly on the use of Pegasus and similar tools, finding that governments across the EU likely used spyware, "in one way or another, some legitimate, some illegitimate." Kouloglou said he was astonished at the audacity of whoever was behind the hacking. "I was not expecting that a PEGA member would be spied on by Pegasus," he told Reuters. "I was not expecting that they would be as reckless as that." NSO did not return messages seeking comment. NSO was blacklisted by the U.S. government in 2021 over human rights and national security concerns. Last year, WhatsApp owner Meta Platforms META.O won a $168 million damages award against NSO for unlawfully hacking the platform, although the award was significantly reduced. (Reuters)
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